PARK CITY, Utah -- You have to go to something like Robert Redford's annual "filmmakers' brunch" to sense the level of ambition, hope and need at the Sundance Film Festival. You understand that the festival is a showcase for independent filmmakers. You know that a lot of them are here with their first or second movies and a game plan to make a sale, find distribution, win awards and generate buzz.

PARK CITY, Utah The future of the American film industry begins its annual convention here today, at the Sundance Film Festival. For the next 10 days, new independent films and documentaries will unspool all over town, in every possible performance space: Wherever two or three gather together, they're probably looking at a movie.

LOS ANGELES "The Accidental Tourist" is one of the bleakest comedies I've ever seen, a movie so sad you can hardly believe you're laughing a lot of the time, and that you're walking out of the theater feeling good. A lot of that credit for that paradox belongs to an actress named Geena Davis, who walks into the movie and walks out with William Hurt's dog.